Chapter 24

We wereat the Beech estate for several hours. The first set of state police left almost immediately to escort the ambulance before the sedative started to wear off. They called for a second unit to come take our statements and process the scene. I was worried that Jared would backtrack on his statement, but when Holly’s attorney showed up and he told him everything, the man said he’d have no problem defending Jared’s right to his inheritance if anyone managing the trust decided to challenge his status.

He also agreed to represent Jared because charges were certainly going to be levied against both of them, although coercion was certainly a factor in Jared’s case. I suspected given Jared’s age at the time and the fact that his father and sister were the ones who’d actually committed the crimes, he might get away with probation or a short jail stint. At the time, he’d believed that Ryan had killed Lindsay and Holly had seen it happen, which was why her memory was blank. It wasn’t until I showed up and told him about Kelsey that he started to worry that they’d gotten it all wrong.

I’d texted Carter earlier giving him the bullet points and letting him know we’d be a while, but he was waiting for me on his front porch when Ida Belle dropped me off. I knew Alexander had been there that afternoon to tell him about Kitts, and I’d really hoped this night would be for celebrating, but there was nothing but worry and concern on his face when he rose.

“Long day, huh?” he said after he pulled me in for a long, hard hug before we went inside. “I grabbed dinner from the café. I figured you’d be starving.”

“Definitely. I knew it was going to take a while, but Jesus, what a convoluted mess over there. I know the lawyer needed to be there, but why do they make things so much more difficult?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s to fluff up their billable hours. Come on, and I’ll heat up your dinner.”

We headed back to the kitchen, and I flopped into a chair. Carter popped the top on a beer and passed it to me and got to work on the food while I gave him the blow-by-blow of the events.

“Just getting the state police up to speed took forever because the case never had any publicity,” I said. “And one of them transferred in from out of state only a year ago, so they were starting from ground zero on everything.”

“Have you talked to Alexander yet?”

I nodded. “I called him on the way back to Sinful and filled him in. He told me Kitts was arrested and is sitting in a cell in DC. Looks like everything is finally going to catch up to him.”

Carter frowned and nodded. “What did Alexander say about Ryan?”

I knew he was changing the subject because he hadn’t processed the situation with Kitts well enough to talk about it yet, so I let it go. We’d have the rest of our lives to work out the damage Kitts had done, although I’ll admit I was hoping it didn’t take quite that long for Carter to come to grips with it. I missed the mostly happy Carter. The one whose biggest frustration was the trouble Celia and Gertie’s purse caused. Selfishly, I wanted him back, and the sooner the better.

“Alexander is going to the ADA with everything tomorrow. He thinks it’s more than enough to get Ryan a retrial, at minimum, but he’s going in full throttle for an exoneration. He’s also going to float the words civil suit and damages, given that there was never a real investigation.”

Carter shook his head. “The whole thing is a really bad look for law enforcement and the judicial system. The public outcry is going to be enormous.”

“Exactly. I’m hoping the ADA is smart enough to realize that and make a deal.”

“Do you think Jared’s testimony will hold up after all these years of lying?”

I laughed. “Yeah, actually I do. He never destroyed Holly’s clothes. When the cops asked him why he’d kept them, he kept shaking his head and saying he didn’t know.”

“Do you believe him?”

I shrugged. “It could be that something told him to cover his butt in case the whole thing fell apart. Or maybe he was going to use them as leverage against his father if he ever developed the backbone to do so.”

“I have my doubts on the second one, because if that was the case, why not ditch them after his father died? It’s far more likely he was afraid if anyone really investigated Lindsay’s murder, he would come up as a solid suspect.”

“True. But either way, the clothes are in a safe-deposit box and will be retrieved by the cops and tested. As soon as the lab determines they’re Holly’s clothes with Lindsay’s blood on them, the case is pretty much a wrap.”

“Then why are you frowning?”

“Because I still don’t know who the guy was that Holly saw hit Lindsay.”

Carter shook his head. “You don’t know for certain that she ever saw anyone, and even if she did, she probably didn’t have the night correct. She doesn’t remember what happened because her mind has shut off her horrific actions. It’s protecting her from having to face what she did because she probably couldn’t handle it.”

“I’m sure you’re right. But man, I was really hoping for a different answer.”

“Would it be any better if Brett Spalding had done it?”

“Of course not. It would be worse, given the situation with Ben. Regardless, Lindsay’s still dead, Ryan has spent ten years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, and families will suffer.”

He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “It’s the part of the job none of us like. But our duty is to the victims and their loved ones, even if the answers hurt them even more.”

I nodded, but I was still conflicted. Holly killing Lindsay was an answer for all of the pertinent questions, but something about it all still didn’t sit right with me. What if Jared was lying? He’d looked horrified while recounting the entire situation, which I’d taken as reliving the moment when he thought his younger sister had murdered his older one. And he definitely seemed to treat Holly with kid gloves, almost as if he was afraid of her.

But what if Jared was the one Holly had seen through the window? What if she’d blocked it out because she’d seen her brother kill her sister? What if the drugs she’d been flushing down the toilet were the only thing keeping her memory from bursting through, and my visit had prompted her to stop taking them to see if her memory would return? What if Jared kept the clothes all this time in case Holly’s memory ever came back? With her documented history of violence, no one would believe her word over his.

Or what if Brett had received the picture and gone to see Lindsay to use it as leverage? To convince her to get involved with him?

Everyone said Lindsay was brilliant with numbers, and no one wanted to believe she’d made a mistake of that magnitude. But what if she’d caught on to the same thing the FBI was hunting? Brett pushing her for a relationship might have been an attempt to get her on his side…to keep her from telling what she knew. Maybe seeing Ryan with another woman hadn’t been enough. Maybe Brett was out of options.

When I lay in bed that night, all I could think was, what if the wrong person was in custody again?

* * *

Tuesday started uneventfully—thankGod. I forced myself to stay in bed until 7:00 a.m. even though sleeping had been crap, then headed to the kitchen for coffee. Carter was already gone but had left me a note saying that the state police had finished with my house and he’d called in a favor. The forensic cleaners had finished up last night.

I perked up a bit, happy that I’d be able to return home. Not that I hated staying with Carter or being in his house, but there was something about my own place that helped center me. Sanctuary. That’s what Gertie would call it. The place you were supposed to be happy and peaceful, and that was mostly true for me. Unless men broke in and tried to kill me.

I downed a cup of coffee, threw on clothes, and headed for home. The house smelled like lemons, and I was astounded that I couldn’t spot a single drop of blood on the hardwood. I owed Carter big for this. I put on another pot of coffee and sent a text to Ida Belle and Gertie, letting them know I was back at home.

Five minutes later, they walked into my kitchen carrying a box of pastries from Ally’s bakery.

“We were just picking up pastries when we got your text,” Ida Belle said. “We figured we could all do with a treat.”

“Yesterday was a doozy,” Gertie said as she plopped into a chair.

Ida Belle nodded and started putting coffee cups on the table as I poured.

“I suppose everything that happened yesterday put a damper on yours and Carter’s celebration over Kitts,” Gertie said. “But was Carter happy?”

“I don’t know that I’d call it happy,” I said. “I’d go with moderately relieved.”

“He’s still processing everything and trying to figure out where he stands in all of Kitts’s treachery,” Ida Belle said.

“As a pawn,” Gertie said. “I know that answer won’t sit well with him, but it’s a far better cry than being a willing participant, like those men who came after Fortune.”

I shrugged. “They were paid to come after me. Mercenaries don’t have a cause or any loyalty. But until Kitts is convicted and we’re all officially cleared, I don’t think Carter will be able to completely relax or address how he feels about everything. Right now, he’s still worried that the four of us might be on the hook for something.”

Ida Belle shook her head. “I can’t say I’m not worried at all, because I am worried about you and Harrison, but overall, I think they’d be making a mistake to come down on you two when it’s become clear where all the problems lie.”

Gertie nodded. “Going after a woman who Kitts sent mercenaries to kill because she saved a decorated Marine won’t fly with the DOD. They have no loyalty to Kitts and no need to protect his reputation.”

“I agree,” I said. “I don’t think the DOD or the military wants the storm I would unleash if they push things. We’ll have to wait for all the red tape to unravel, but I think it will all be fine. Kitts sending those mercenaries put the nail in his coffin.”

“Then why do you have that look?” Ida Belle asked.

“What look?”

“The one where you’re not finished with something.”

I sighed, then unloaded everything that had left me tossing and turning all night—my suspicions about Jared and Brett, my questions about Holly’s issues, and what might be the real reason she couldn’t remember that night. And my theory on why she was starting to remember.

Ida Belle and Gertie gave each other worried looks.

“I wish I could find fault with your logic,” Ida Belle said. “If for no other reason than our own peace of mind, but the way you’ve spelled it out has me as concerned as you.”

Gertie nodded. “I definitely want Holly in a locked-down facility, at least until they can figure out how to manage her behavior, but I don’t want her going to prison if she didn’t commit a crime.”

“She was going to set her brother on fire,” Ida Belle reminded her. “That’s not exactly a good look for her defense.”

Gertie sighed. “True. But what if she was going to kill Jared because somewhere in the recesses of her mind, she knows he’s the one who killed Lindsay?”

“Still a crime,” Ida Belle pointed out. “So was showing up here with an ice pick to use on Fortune.”

I shook my head. “This whole thing is so convoluted. I don’t think we’ve ever had a case with so many strong possibilities for the perp, and all with solid motive and opportunity.”

“So what’s our next move?” Ida Belle asked.

“I wish I knew.”

“We never asked Brett where he was that night,” Gertie said. “Maybe we try to run down his whereabouts. We already know where Jared claimed he was, although he could have dashed home and showered and ditched his bloody clothes before Holly made it back.”

“But how do we check Brett’s alibi?” I asked. “If we ask him, he’ll either have one and a friend, like his good buddy Devin, who will lie for him to back him up, or he’ll simply say he was at home alone and we have no way to prove otherwise.”

Ida Belle shook her head, clearly as lacking in suggestions as I was. “Have you talked to Kelsey yet?

“I sent her a text yesterday saying that we’d gotten tied up with something and I would get in touch as soon as possible. She texted me last night asking me to call when I had a chance, but I was too spent to do it. I figured I’d wait until a reasonable hour and call her this morning.”

“I’ll bet now is reasonable,” Gertie said. “She probably hasn’t slept a wink since Ryan went for those tests. And probably won’t until she gets the results.”

“That’s true,” I said and reached for my phone.

Kelsey verified Gertie’s prediction by answering on the first ring. I immediately launched into an apology.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get back with you yesterday,” I said. “We had a situation—a huge situation—but I think it’s the big break we needed for Ryan.”

She sucked in a breath. “You know who killed Lindsay?”

“Her sister Holly has been taken into custody by the state police.”

I told her what had happened at the Beech estate.

“Oh my God!” she said when I was finished. “That night when Ryan and I talked, he said his girlfriend’s family was what had ultimately caused them to separate, but I never imagined anything like that. How long can they hold her?”

“As long as she’s deemed to be a threat to herself or others. But to be honest, I don’t think she’ll ever see the inside of a courtroom.”

“I know she says she doesn’t remember, but do you believe her?” she asked.

“Yeah. She’s got a history of issues that have been overlooked, glossed over, and outright hidden. She said she’s starting to see flashes of memory about that night, so maybe one day she’ll remember everything. Who knows?”

“Poor Ryan and poor Lindsay. It sounds like she was the only person trying to get Holly help.”

“Unfortunately, that might have been the nail in Lindsay’s coffin,” I said. “Holly is terrified of mental health facilities. If she even thought, incorrectly as far as we know, that Lindsay’s arguments with their father for help were about trying to get her back into one…”

“The whole thing is such an awful tragedy,” Kelsey said. “If only their father had listened. Maybe Lindsay would still be alive.”

“I know. But the only thing we can do about it now is push for Ryan’s release. My attorney is going to see the ADA this morning. I’m hoping they move for an exoneration to try to avoid an even worse thrashing by the public, because you know it’s coming.”

“As well it should,” she agreed. “I’ve always heard people complain about how the system is broken, but I never realized just how bad it can be until now. I don’t think I’ve ever been angrier than I have been this past week.”

“We can’t get back the ten years he lost, or in any way erase everything that happened to him while he was incarcerated, but hopefully, we can give him back the rest of his life.”

Kelsey sniffed. “I hope so too. I can’t tell you how lucky I was that Jenny caught me crying that day. She was so right about you. Thank you, Fortune. This week alone, you might have saved three lives—Jared, Ryan, and Ben.”

I felt my chest constrict as I thought about her words. I’d become a PI because I needed something to do and wanted to use my natural ability and some of the skills I already had, but mostly because, since being in Sinful, I’d discovered that I loved solving puzzles. But something else I’d discovered was that I also loved helping people. And the people who deserved the most help were often the very ones who were overlooked.

“So what did you call about yesterday?” I asked. “Did you talk to Brett after our conversation?”

“Yes, and we laid everything out. He said he was always going to support whatever it took to save Ben, but after talking with you, he realized he’d left me with a lot of uncertainty because of our relationship issues. He didn’t want me to worry. There is no more ‘us,’ except when it comes to saving and parenting Ben, but where Ben is concerned, we’re on the same page.”

“I’m glad to hear it. You’ve always said he was a great father. You never said he was a great husband, so I figured you weren’t lying about the father part.”

“Ha. That’s true. But that’s not all I called you about—the tests came back…”

I sucked in a breath. “And?”

“And Ryan is a match.”

Ida Belle and Gertie started cheering, and I couldn’t stop grinning. I could hear Kelsey laughing at our obvious celebration.

“I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to hear that,” I said.

“Us too!” Gertie yelled and whooped again.

“So what’s the next step?” I asked.

“The surgeon will coordinate with the hospital and the prison, and Brett and I, of course, and get the surgery scheduled. Ryan will need aftercare for a while, and they have to arrange for guards because the prison doesn’t have the facilities or knowledge needed to care for him after the surgery.”

“Maybe by the time he’s healthy enough to return to prison, Alexander will have worked his magic on the ADA.”

“I’m going to be praying so hard for that.”

I heard a signal on Kelsey’s phone, and she said, “Can you hold on a second? It’s Devin texting me and he says it’s an emergency.”

As she clicked off, I looked at Ida Belle and Gertie and they both stared back at me, all of us clearly thinking the same thing. Our worst fears were confirmed when Kelsey clicked back over, all of the joy in her voice replaced by fear.

“Devin said the FBI came into Spalding and arrested Brett. They hauled him out in handcuffs and made everyone turn over their keys to the office and leave. They wouldn’t tell anyone why—just that the office had been seized and they couldn’t access the building or the records. They made Devin lock down the server so that no one could access it remotely. What the hell is going on?”

“I’m not sure, but let me see if I can find out. Meantime, you call the FBI and tell them your husband has been taken into custody and you need to arrange his attorney. I’m sure Brett knows not to say anything until he has representation. Does he have an attorney?”

“Yes. The firm has one on retainer. But he does real estate deals and contracts and stuff.”

“Until we know why they’ve taken him into custody, we don’t know what kind of support Brett will need, but any attorney can instruct him to keep quiet and advise him on who to hire once they know what the charges are.”

“Charges? Oh my God! Fortune, this can’t be happening. Brett couldn’t have done anything wrong. He’s absolutely rigid about certain things, and the law is one of them.”

“Don’t start panicking until we know more. I’ll make some calls and see if I can find out anything, but my guess is you’re going to have to wait until his attorney talks to the FBI, and that’s going to be when they’re good and ready. They are incredibly tight-lipped about their cases, and it’s almost impossible to get them to talk outside of their own circles.”

“Okay, I’m going to take a deep breath and calm down. Devin is on his way over now. I’ll have him contact the firm’s attorney since he knows him personally and was there when all this happened and can explain it better than I can.”

“Good idea. Call me back as soon as you hear something.”